PLANT DIVERSITY IN MOUTEH REFUGE, IRAN

Mouteh Refuge covers an area of 200,000 hectars situated in the northwest of Meymeh and southwest of Delijan. Minimum and maximum of altitude are 1800 and 3000 m, respectively. The Refuge presents a variety of habitats, including stony slopes, pedimont plains, alluvial plains, salt marshes, saline rivers and springs.A total of 580 species and subspecific taxa were identified based on plant samples collected in several years. They are including two gymnosperms, 502 dicotyledones and 76 monocotyledones. Altogether, 63 families and 287 genera are known from the area. The following families have the highest number of species: Asteraceae (14.3 %), Fabaceae (10.2 %), Brassicaceae (9.5 %), Poaceae (7.9 %), Chenopodiaceae (7.6 %), Caryophyllaceae (5.9 %) and Lamiaceae (5.9 %). Therophytes and hemicryptophytes each one with 209 species (36 %) are the most frequent life forms of the Refuge. The distributions of 449 species (77.4 %) are restricted to Irano-Turanian region.